Hagan Off To Fast Start In Pomona

Matt Hagan got off to a great start in the Funny Car portion of this weekend's NHRA season-ending event in Ponoma. (File photo courtesy of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series)

Matt Hagan got in the first punch in his Funny Car battle with John Force on the final weekend of the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Series season by making a 4.139-second pass at 293.86 mph to earn the provisional No. 1 in Funny Car.

The three bonus points he earned for the quickest pass of the first session of the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif. extended his lead over second-place Force (qualified fourth) to 40 points, which means (since he owns the tiebreaker with Force) that if he maintains that margin throughout qualifying, Force would need to win three more rounds on Sunday to win the championship.

Qualifying continues on Friday and Saturday.

“That’s huge,” Hagan said of the three bonus points, before adding, “It sounds great right now, but we’ve got a lot of qualifying left. I don’t think it will stick.”

The other No. 1 qualifiers at the 23rd and final race in the 2010 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season were Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

There are still a maximum of nine qualifying bonus points available (per driver) in each of the final three qualifying sessions (based on the 3-2-1 system for the top three ETs of each session) in addition to the 1-to-8 points awarded based on final qualifying position.

“We’re so close we can taste it (but) all the thinking and all the wishing in the world isn’t going to change a thing. We just have to go out there and do it,” said the 27-year-old Hagan, driver of the DieHard Dodge Charger.

Dixon and the Al-Anabi team entered the weekend with an 85-point lead over Tony Schumacher and the U.S. Army team and he extended it to 86 with the pace-setting 3.813 at 318.39 (Schumacher qualified second). With four rounds during eliminations, and each round-win worth 20 points, a lead of 80-plus points is all but insurmountable (Schumacher could earn an additional 20 points for setting a national record).

“Really all I did was get us qualified,” said Dixon, who eliminated the one mistake that could have opened the door for Schumacher. “We’ll be in the show no matter what else happens … we’ll be in the race.”

Line, Summit Racing Pontiac teammate of points-leader Greg Anderson, paced the Pro Stock field with a 6.561-second pass at 211.16 mph that would be his second of the season and 18th of his career.

“It could be a big weekend for us,” said Line, who’s never won this race. “We can also move up to second in points, we gained three points on (Mike) Edwards. I’d like to finish second … a 1-2 finish (for Summit Racing) would be a nice way to end a not really nice year.”

Line, who closed the deficit behind Edwards from 11 to eight, has qualified no lower than fifth in the Countdown and his performance has closely mirrored the recent dominance of his teammate’s car.

“We just stopped being dumb,” Line said jokingly before adding, “We haven’t got a new pieces or parts, per se, we just got them to fit together better.”

Lucas Oil Buell rider Hector Arana, the defending Pro Stock Motorcycle champion who has been mathematically eliminated this year, sits atop the class with a track record 6.870 at 194.35 that would be his third straight and seventh overall No. 1 of the season.

“I going to give it my best,” Arana said of trying for his first win of 2010. “It would be nice to finish and at least win this last one. Now that I have the performance, I just have to do my job on the light.”

—

Results Thursday after the first of four rounds of qualifying for the 46th annual Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, final of 23 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. Qualifying will continue Friday for Sunday’s final eliminations.

Racin’ Today – Quote from John Force

“I’m excited to see writers like Jim Pedley, John Sturbin, Rick Minter, and Bill Fleischman, guys who have written about me, working together at www.racintoday.com. The internet is huge and it is giving talented guys like these professionals a place to get their stories out to our fans and the public. The media is changing and I am excited to see writers that have covered me and all of motorsports creating a new way to get our stories to our fans. They can take motorsports journalism to the next level. I’ve dealt with these guys for over 15 years all across the country.”

“As an example of the character of these guys, when Sturbin was with the Ft. Worth Star Telegram and I was racing at the Texas Motorplex, one of my favorite tracks he showed how he is an individual who gets it. He understands the sport and the drivers. Years ago I ran my mouth at the Texas Motorplex saying I was going to go out and set a record and if I didn’t I would eat his newspaper column. Well I didn’t set the record so I went into the press room and ate his column the next day. He told before I started that I didn’t have to follow through but I told him if I say something I am going to back it up whether I win or lose. That is the kind of pro Sturbin is as well as the rest of the writers at racintoday.com are. They will write the truth whether you like it or not.”

“You better not blame something on your car because Sturbin will dig and find out whether or not it was the car or you. He gets down in the trenches, tells the truth, and he knows what he is talking about. I am excited for these writers and this new website because I have always loved the media and I know that without the media you don’t have much. You have to be able to tell your story and get it right. These guys are guys who will make sure they get it right.” - JOHN FORCE